This invention relates to a self-locking binding particularly for cross-country skiing.
Various types of bindings are currently provided for cross-country skiing; some include a plate, rigid with the ski and provided with stationary lugs protruding upwards, on which matingly shaped seats are to be placed which are formed in the toe portion of the footwear sole, which is in turn held in position on the ski by an upper locking element, all this being necessary in order to restrict sideplay between the footwear sole and the ski. Some of these bindings have, however, the disadvantage of assuming, once closed, a fixed position, alternate oscillation of the footwear in a vertical plane as generated by the movements of the cross-country skier being entrusted exclusively to elastic deformation of the forward portion of the footwear left unlocked by the binding, with evident problems of wear at the affected area.
Other known types of bindings all include fixed lugs, located on a plate or on an upper locking element, which may be inserted into matingly shaped zones formed on the toe portion of the footwear, the same being locked by an element adapted to exert pressure thereon. Such known types have, however, the disadvantage of permitting sideplay between the footwear and the ski in conjunction with inherent high stresses imposed on the binding.